GLASSBORO — The Glassboro planning board gave preliminary approval Tuesday night to a controversial building plan that will connect a series of proposed townhouses to the borough's Camelot development.

The residents of Camelot, a 55-and-up community, fought the plan, complaining that the road would compromise the age restrictions on their neighborhood. The board's approval, however, was contingent on continuing negotiations between Camelot residents and the developer, John Canuso of the Aura Development Group.

"Give us the privacy we were promised," said Roseanne Sulpizio-Watson during the public portion of the meeting.

She was just one resident who argued that a road tentatively named "Road A," that would connect 94 proposed townhouses to the existing Camelot homes, would defeat the purpose of an active adult community by bringing families and school buses onto Grande Boulevard, Camelot's main artery.

"None of us ever envisioned that our neighborhood would connect to a non-age-restricted community," said Bob Miller, who spoke on behalf of the homeowners. "We love our children and our grandchildren, but we also love when they go back home."

"No road!" called several residents in the crowd of more than 100 people.

Camelot residents also requested the building of a second access road to their development. They don't want this second road to connect to the townhouses, either.

Les Vail, chairman of the planning board, said he wanted to see the installation of a second route of access to Camelot, although he did not address the question of whether or not Road A should connect the townhouses to the retirement community.

"We have to take into consideration the needs of our residents," said Vail. "But we have to take care of our property owners as well," he said, referring to Canuso's planned construction.

Homeowners also raised concerns about the issue of flooding in the neighborhood, which Canuso said he intended to remedy by upgrading the drainage system and adding another retention basin.

Canuso argued that he had gone out of his way to hear out the concerns of the Camelot residents before the hearing. A meeting he had with homeowners last week, he said, had been productive, although several in the crowd disagreed.

"I took my time out and met with these people," he said.

The motion to give Canuso preliminary approval to move ahead with the project was met with groans from the audience.

"I make the motion with trepidation," said Mayor Leo McCabe.

Vail was visibly annoyed as the discussion degraded into a shouting match. The board approved Canuso's application unanimously, but with a catch: Canuso will not be able to obtain final approval without finding a compromise with the residents of Camelot regarding Road A and a secondary entrance to the neighborhood. Building cannot begin without final approval from the borough.

"I hope that this does not mean the end of communications," Vail said to Canuso as homeowners angrily filed out of the meeting. "You've got a lot of work to do with this group."